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Unit outline_

LAWS6252: Legal Reasoning and the Common Law System

Intensive September, 2020 [Block mode] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

This is a compulsory unit for all postgraduate students who do not hold a law degree or equivalent from a common law jurisdiction entering the: Master of Administrative Law and Policy; Master of Business Law; Master of Environmental Law; Master of Environmental Science and Law; Master of Health Law; Master of Labour Law and Relations as well as Graduate Diplomas offered in these programs. The unit has been designed to equip students with the necessary legal skills and legal knowledge to competently apply themselves in their chosen area of law. Instruction will cover the legislative process; the judiciary and specialist tribunals; precedent; court hierarchies; legal reasoning; constitutional law; administrative law; contracts; and torts. Some elements of the unit will be tailored in accordance with the requirements of the particular specialist programs.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit Law
Credit points 6
Prerequisites
? 
None
Corequisites
? 
None
Prohibitions
? 
LAWS6881 and law graduates from a common law jurisdiction
Assumed knowledge
? 

None

Available to study abroad and exchange students

No

Teaching staff

Coordinator Jennifer Clarke, jennifer.clarke@sydney.edu.au
Type Description Weight Due Length
Participation hurdle task Attendance
Class attendance
0% Ongoing Ongoing
Outcomes assessed: LO1 LO9 LO8 LO7 LO6 LO5 LO4 LO3 LO2
In-semester test (Open book) Type C in-semester exam Online quiz
Mix of multiple-choice (choose ONE answer from among many) and short-answer
20% Week 07
Due date: 14 Sep 2020 at 19:00
50 minutes
Outcomes assessed: LO5 LO7
Assignment hurdle task Assignment
Written task
80% Week 09
Due date: 09 Oct 2020 at 16:00
4500 words
Outcomes assessed: LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4 LO5 LO6 LO7 LO8 LO9 LO10
hurdle task = hurdle task ?
Type C in-semester exam = Type C in-semester exam ?

Assessment summary

  • Workshop attendance: The workshops will involve working with others to master skills of case analysis and statutory interpretation. Attendance at both workshops is not compulsory but advised.
  • Online quiz: The test is designed to assess students’ comprehension of key concepts covered in the unit and essential skills of legal reasoning and analysis. It will comprise approximately 20 questions, some multiple choice and some short-answer. Topics in the test may be taken from lectures, workshops, and required readings. The quiz will be released at 5pm and close at 7pm, but students must complete the quiz 50 minutes after they first commence working on it.
  • Assignment: The assignment will ask you to prepare a case note, an advice on a particular fact scenario, and an essay. These will require students to draw on assigned readings.

A student must make a satisfactory attempt of all assessment tasks in order to pass this unit. Detailed information for each assessment can be found on Canvas.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a high distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name

Mark range

Description

High distinction

85 - 100

Work at this level will generally:

- answer the question completely;

- contain striking originality of approach or analysis;

- demonstrate exhaustive or innovative research (where research is required);

- be exceptionally well written, structured and expressed’

- be exceptional in some other way.

Distinction

75 - 84

Work at this level will generally:

- answer the question completely;

- achieve a critical and evaluative approach to the issues;

- be well structured and articulated, including in a way that supports any conclusions;

- demonstrate strong research (where research is required) and analysis;

- be well-documented, well expressed and free from errors.

Credit

65 - 74

Work at this level will generally:

- answer the question by covering the main issues fairly well;

- contain no significant errors;

- attempt a critical approach to the issues;

- demonstrate sound research (where research is required) and analysis;

- have a clear structure and reasonably clear expression.

Pass

50 - 64

Work at this level will generally:

- identify the key issues and try to engage with them to answer the question;

- contain some significant errors;

- offer a descriptive summary of relevant material;

- use relevant material superficially, including by paraphrasing it without understanding it;

- demonstrate limited research or analsysis;

- be adequately expressed.

Fail

0 - 49

When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

There are many ways to do this, but a common one is not answering the question but instead another question that you prefer.

Work at this level may also:

- contain significant or numerous errors;

- contain few or no identifiable arguments;

- contain inappropriate or irrelevant content;

- demonstrate a lack of research or analysis;

- be difficult or impossible to understand because of poor expression, grammar or structure.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

  • Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
  • After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

This unit has an exception to the standard University policy or supplementary information has been provided by the unit coordinator. This information is displayed below:

The late submission of a piece of assessment, which has not been granted an extension, will attract a penalty of 10% of the total marks available for the piece of assessment per calendar day or part thereof.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automated writing tools

You may only use generative AI and automated writing tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator. If you do use these tools, you must acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section. The assessment instructions or unit outline will give guidance of the types of tools that are permitted and how the tools should be used.

Your final submitted work must be your own, original work. You must acknowledge any use of generative AI tools that have been used in the assessment, and any material that forms part of your submission must be appropriately referenced. For guidance on how to acknowledge the use of AI, please refer to the AI in Education Canvas site.

The unapproved use of these tools or unacknowledged use will be considered a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy and penalties may apply.

Studiosity is permitted unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission as detailed on the Learning Hub’s Canvas page.

Outside assessment tasks, generative AI tools may be used to support your learning. The AI in Education Canvas site contains a number of productive ways that students are using AI to improve their learning.

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

WK Topic Learning activity Learning outcomes
- 1. Introduction to the unit; foundational principles; 2. Foundational principles, including constitutional aspects; 3. Administrative law; 4. Taxonomies and hierarchies Lecture (8 hr)  
1. Common law reasoning; 2. Case analysis workshop; 3. Private law Lecture (8 hr)  
1. Statutory interpretation principles; 2. Statutory interpretation workshop; 3. Criminal law Lecture (8 hr)  
1. International law in Australia; 2. Legal writing and academic honesty; 3. Library skills Lecture (8 hr)  

Attendance and class requirements

Attendance: Please refer to information on Canvas.

Word Count Penalty: A piece of assessment which exceeds the prescribed word limit will attract a penalty of 10% of the total marks available for the piece of assessment for every 100 words, or part thereof. The total word count for essay and other written assessments will exclude bibliography; footnote numbers; footnote citation; cover page and include body text; headings and sub-headings; quotations; anything other than numbers and citations in footnotes.

Referencing: The Sydney Law School expects you to use the Australian Guide to Legal Citation (4th edition, 2018) for your footnoting style, although you should confirm this with your lecturer, and a link to the library website where this is set out comprehensively is available at https://libguides.library.usyd.edu.au/c.php?g=508212&p=3476376


Students should refer to Canvas for details of class engagement in individual units of study.
 

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

All readings for this unit can be accessed through the Library eReserve, available on Canvas.

 

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

  • LO1. - identify the distinct sources of Australian law, the institutions responsible for making them and the general nature of the processes by which they are made;
  • LO2. - understand the relationships between different sources of Australian law and the explanations for those hierarchies;
  • LO3. - understand which institutions of government are responsible for enforcing Australian laws and adjudicating disputes under them;
  • LO4. - understand key principles that underpin the Australian legal system, such as the rule of law, separation of judicial power and Westminster government;
  • LO5. - be aware of key concepts and processes in several areas of law, including constitutional, administrative, criminal, torts, contract and international law;
  • LO6. - understand conventions and expectations that relate to legal analysis and writing such as methods of citation, authority and attribution of sources; clarity, relevance and brevity.
  • LO7. - understand the doctrine of precedent and how it applies to Australian courts;
  • LO8. - be able to analyse a court judgment to identify the legal principle(s) for which it stands (ration(es) decidendi);
  • LO9. - be able to interpret legislation, including dealing with issues of ambiguity, legislative purpose and inconsistency with other statutes;
  • LO10. know how to find relevant legal research materials.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1 Depth of disciplinary expertise

Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.

GQ2 Critical thinking and problem solving

Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.

GQ3 Oral and written communication

Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.

GQ4 Information and digital literacy

Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.

GQ5 Inventiveness

Generating novel ideas and solutions.

GQ6 Cultural competence

Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.

GQ7 Interdisciplinary effectiveness

Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.

GQ8 Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity

An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.

GQ9 Influence

Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes Graduate qualities
GQ1 GQ2 GQ3 GQ4 GQ5 GQ6 GQ7 GQ8 GQ9

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

A textbook is no longer prescribed for this unit. The Working Group will provide mitigation strategies in order to reduce the "high risks".

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.